Ticketmaster Scam

Geico266

Geico266

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Geico
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I have ever seen anything more crooked than Ticketmaster. We are trying to buy tickets to a concert and they keep playing games for the seats we want. Prices range from $250 to $4,500..... For the same seats! Once they know you are looking they jack the price up.

Any experienced Ticketmaster scam beaters out there?
 
You wrote "Ticketmaster Scam" - that's a redundant statement.

"Convenience Fee" - ask 'em where can I buy the tickets inconveniently and avoid the fee. That place does not exist, so the originally-stated ticket price was a lie. That's fraud.
 
I say you tell us what show it is, and several thousand of us can shop it at the same time, the TicketMaster Thieving Ticket Scam Algorithm (tm) will conclude that the show's a hot one, drive all the prices way up, no one buys tix and the artist(s) will have a claim against TM.
 
SCCutler said:
You wrote "Ticketmaster Scam" - that's a redundant statement.

"Convenience Fee" - ask 'em where can I buy the tickets inconveniently and avoid the fee. That place does not exist, so the originally-stated ticket price was a lie. That's fraud.
Click to expand...

Ah, counselor, there's a service fee PLUS a convenience fee. The convenience fee for the convenience of paying 20% for the service.

I will not abide. I buy the tickets inconveniently at the box office or don't' go.

I once called Ticketmaster from work and was putting up with all of the fee crap until the guy went into a spliel to sell me magazines. I told him to cancel everything and walked to the venue to buy tickets.
 
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SCCutler said:
I say you tell us what show it is, and several thousand of us can shop it at the same time, the TicketMaster Thieving Ticket Scam Algorithm (tm) will conclude that the show's a hot one, drive all the prices way up, no one buys tix and the artist(s) will have a claim against TM.
Click to expand...

I think you might be onto something!
 
My wife was a ticketmaster cs lead for years but over 12 years ago. She claims this does not happen but I will agree that brokers are scammy.
 
I bought tix to a Big Ten football game on Stubhub and everything was exactly as advertised. It was clear that the better the seat, the higher the price. I paid a fee, but I printed our tix out and had zero issues.

As a plus we got to fly to the game!
 
Not to defend TM, 'cause the convenience fees are outrageous (and they're often exclusive ticket seller), but I do understand some of this. It comes from the bands and the promoters. Promoters guarantee the band a certain amount for the concert, then need to sell enough tickets to make that up - yet the band usually sets the guarantee high enough to make the tickets expensive. The promoter makes it's money from concession sales (which is why beer is $10...). Promoter wants full venue to sell more beer, band want their guarantee, and Ticket******* wants to make their piece. These days the big promoters try and do band deals to reduce the guarantee in exchange for a a share of the profits. Oh, and Live Nation owns Ticket Master.

The real question is whether the Doobies are still worth a premium price to see. Or the Stones for that matter. You need a lot of beer for the worn out voices....
 
wsuffa said:
Not to defend TM, 'cause the convenience fees are outrageous (and they're often exclusive ticket seller), but I do understand some of this. It comes from the bands and the promoters. Promoters guarantee the band a certain amount for the concert, then need to sell enough tickets to make that up - yet the band usually sets the guarantee high enough to make the tickets expensive. The promoter makes it's money from concession sales (which is why beer is $10...). Promoter wants full venue to sell more beer, band want their guarantee, and Ticket******* wants to make their piece. These days the big promoters try and do band deals to reduce the guarantee in exchange for a a share of the profits. Oh, and Live Nation owns Ticket Master.

The real question is whether the Doobies are still worth a premium price to see. Or the Stones for that matter. You need a lot of beer for the worn out voices....
Click to expand...


:rofl:.......:lol:........

Geico is in Nebraska.. I "think" he is looking to attend the Lawrence Welk concert...:eek:.......;)
 
N801BH said:
Geez.. You are as old as me...:yes:.......:lol:.....

Don't forget to turn on the bubble machine...:D
Click to expand...

Remember how the girls would spin around and their skirts would go up? I knew I was a boy from a very early age. :goofy:


:rofl:
 
wsuffa said:
Not to defend TM, 'cause the convenience fees are outrageous (and they're often exclusive ticket seller), but I do understand some of this. It comes from the bands and the promoters. Promoters guarantee the band a certain amount for the concert, then need to sell enough tickets to make that up - yet the band usually sets the guarantee high enough to make the tickets expensive. The promoter makes it's money from concession sales (which is why beer is $10...). Promoter wants full venue to sell more beer, band want their guarantee, and Ticket******* wants to make their piece. These days the big promoters try and do band deals to reduce the guarantee in exchange for a a share of the profits. Oh, and Live Nation owns Ticket Master.

The real question is whether the Doobies are still worth a premium price to see. Or the Stones for that matter. You need a lot of beer for the worn out voices....
Click to expand...

Now I feel really old, I remember when Led Zepplin charged $9 for a ticket.:eek: Before that all shows were like $2. All through school concerts were $15-$25 and that was the early 80s. Last concert I paid to see was the Stones with G-n-R opening in San Diego, $125 and it was a poor show.
 
wsuffa said:
The real question is whether the Doobies are still worth a premium price to see....
Click to expand...
*still*?! Best bands I've seen in years haven't required tickets, just a cover charge.

Nauga,
who loves the DIY music movement
 
StubHub is a great service. I always use them when traveling and wanting last minute tickets.



Henning said:
Now I feel really old, I remember when Led Zepplin charged $9 for a ticket.:eek: Before that all shows were like $2. All through school concerts were $15-$25 and that was the early 80s. Last concert I paid to see was the Stones with G-n-R opening in San Diego, $125 and it was a poor show.
Click to expand...


Steel Wheels tour for the Rolling Stones with Guns n Roses was in October 1989, for me in LA Coliseum.

I wanted to see Rolling Stomes before they quit touring, as, in 1989, jagger and Richards were old.
25 years later, they are still old....
 
JoseCuervo said:
StubHub is a great service. I always use them when traveling and wanting last minute tickets.






Steel Wheels tour for the Rolling Stones with Guns n Roses was in October 1989, for me in LA Coliseum.

I wanted to see Rolling Stomes before they quit touring, as, in 1989, jagger and Richards were old.
25 years later, they are still old....
Click to expand...

The Stones almost kicked GnR off the tour at the San Diego show, they were awful, they were completely ****ed up and couldn't play or sing or stand up.... When Keith Richards tells you you're too wasted, dude, you're too wasted.
 
JoseCuervo said:
Steel Wheels tour for the Rolling Stones with Guns n Roses was in October 1989, for me in LA Coliseum.

I wanted to see Rolling Stomes before they quit touring, as, in 1989, jagger and Richards were old.
25 years later, they are still old....
Click to expand...

The last time I remember seeing big acts on a stage was in 1987. And I didn't have to pay to get in. Kenny Loggins, Charlie Daniels Band and Chuck Berry. One after another. Oh, that was a private party celebrating the first time Tandem Computers hit $1B in sales for the year. Stages were set up in the parking lot behind corporate HQ in Cupertino, CA. We had a PARTY! :yes:
 
Check out Seat geek. It's a multi site ticket search engine and scores the cost/value of a ticket based on the given seat section. it alerts you if there are particularly good deals out there as well.
 
Brad Z said:
Check out Seat geek. It's a multi site ticket search engine and scores the cost/value of a ticket based on the given seat section. it alerts you if there are particularly good deals out there as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks! :D
 
TommyG said:
They are legal ticket scalpers!!!! Eff them, eff ticketmaster.
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Technically, Stub Hub are not the scalpers. They are just a venue, like eBay. They support the scalpers.... Though I have seen tickets go for well below face value for losing sports teams like the Washington football team and the Red Sox last year....
 
SCCutler said:
"Convenience Fee" - ask 'em where can I buy the tickets inconveniently and avoid the fee. That place does not exist, so the originally-stated ticket price was a lie. That's fraud.
Click to expand...
That's not ticketmaster's issue. Blame the venue.
 
Henning said:
Now I feel really old, I remember when Led Zepplin charged $9 for a ticket.:eek: Before that all shows were like $2. All through school concerts were $15-$25 and that was the early 80s. Last concert I paid to see was the Stones with G-n-R opening in San Diego, $125 and it was a poor show.
Click to expand...
And the Stones aren't even the band that commands the highest guarantee....

Fins Up!
 
If you have money to pizz away on tickets to watch obscenely overpaid stoners/athletes, you are not flying enough airplane.
 
TommyG said:
They are legal ticket scalpers!!!! Eff them, eff ticketmaster.
Click to expand...


Does StubHub scalp? Huh?

They are just the exchange, allowing sellers and buyers to execute transactions with little risk and for a small, reasonable fee.

"Scalping", whatever that is, is not moral or immoral, it is just secondary transactions. I have bought lots of tickets on StubHub for LESS than face value. Tuesday night games in the NBA aren't high demand.
 
JoseCuervo said:
Does StubHub scalp? Huh?

They are just the exchange, allowing sellers and buyers to execute transactions with little risk and for a small, reasonable fee.

"Scalping", whatever that is, is not moral or immoral, it is just secondary transactions. I have bought lots of tickets on StubHub for LESS than face value. Tuesday night games in the NBA aren't high demand.
Click to expand...

" Scalping" is selling tickets higher than face value. It is a crime in Nebraska. Yes, they do enforce it.
 
Geico266 said:
" Scalping" is selling tickets higher than face value. It is a crime in Nebraska. Yes, they do enforce it.
Click to expand...

Lots of states have lots of rules.

Some states allow it anywhere.

Some states allow it off premises (Calif).

Some allow it at Face Value, or less.

The earlier poster made it sound like StubHub was scalping, without defining scalping. I have bought many tickets on stubHub for less than face value, so I am not sure if that meets his definition of "scalping", and not sure if scalping is moral or immoral in that case.

Does Nebraska not allow the re-sale of tickets you own? What if a kid gets sick and you can't make the game, can you sell them to your cousin?


Interestingly enough, I can go to StubHub right now and see lots of listings for Saturday football with Nebraska vs Rutgers.

https://m.stubhub.com/nebraska-football-tickets/nebraska-vs-rutgers-10-25-2014-4455924/

Is that illegal?
 
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Used to be that Missouri had a scalping ordinance (maybe it was just a city law) - essentially no ticket re-sales for greater than face value. So there would be interesting ads in the paper, "For sale: one pair of shoes, $400, will throw in two tickets..." But Kansas did not have that law. Being a border town, KC had folks on one side of the line that were not allowed to resell at a profit and folks across the street who were.
 
I used to work for an integrator in San Diego that sponsored the concerts at humphrey's by the bay. Man, that's a great venue.. Saw Alanis Morissette, the Monkees and a few other great bands there for free.
 
flyingron said:
That's not ticketmaster's issue. Blame the venue.
Click to expand...

Not buyin' it.

The price is the price. If you list a ticket price, there should be a means of buying it for that price. If it cannot be done, then there is no "convenience" being provided.

It is no different than selling a car, and including a "steering wheel fee."

--

Edit: I remember, a while back, reviewing a TicketMaster contract for a client which owned an entertainment venue. The venue gets screwed, too, IIRC.
 
mikea said:
Ah, counselor, there's a service fee PLUS a convenience fee. The convenience fee for the convenience of paying 20% for the service.

I will not abide. I buy the tickets inconveniently at the box office or don't' go.

I once called Ticketmaster from work and was putting up with all of the fee crap until the guy went into a spliel to sell me magazines. I told him to cancel everything and walked to the venue to buy tickets.
Click to expand...

Most of the time when I tried thst I was met with a fee at the door thst matched or exceeded TicketMaster. It's a great scam.
 
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